Abbott Laboratories Corporation

Lab-Interlink, Inc.

Cardinal Health 301, Inc.

Unelab LLC

Thomas L Bybee

Inna M Zevakina

Greg Rothman

Don R Simms

Douglas Barry

Adrian Chan

Michael Turner

Jay Woods

John Fuller

Ray Puseman

Chris Harvey

Sheri Kime

Dave Murphy

Steve Wright

A transfer and positioning apparatus includes a positioning assembly located between the tracks of a dual lane conveyor and upstream of a lane changer. The positioning assembly includes a retractable shaft for stopping a carrier along a first conveyor adjacent the assembly. A pair of gripper arms are pivotally mounted to move between an open position permitting the carrier to pass along the conveyor track, and a closed position with forward ends in contact with a specimen container on the carrier to position the container in a reference location for direct processing. The lane changer includes a shuttle depending from an overhead support with a pair of arms for receiving and shifting a specimen carrier from one conveyor to a second conveyor of a dual-conveyor track. The shuttle is operable to retain a specimen carrier along either the first or second conveyor and to release a specimen carrier along either the first or second conveyor. Sensors are located to detect the presence of a specimen carrier at each of the retention locations, and to confirm the release of a specimen carrier from the shuttle along each of the conveyors. A queue is positioned upstream of the positioning assembly and includes retractable shafts, sensors and scanners for selectively retaining, detecting and scanning identification data from a specimen carrier on either conveyor upstream of the shuttle.

Transfer and positioning apparatus for automated conveyor system

A transfer apparatus includes a shuttle depending from an overhead support with a pair of arms for receiving and shifting a specimen carrier from one conveyor to a second conveyor of a dual-conveyor track. The shuttle is operable to retain a specimen carrier along either the first or second conveyor and to release a specimen carrier along either the first or second conveyor. Sensors are located to detect the presence of a specimen carrier at each of the retention locations, and to confirm the release of a specimen carrier from the shuttle along each of the conveyors. A drive motor for moving the shuttle between the retention and release positions is electrically connected to a command module with a processor, for receiving instructions as to the position of the shuttle. The sensors are also connected to the processor to transmit detection data to the processor. A queue is positioned upstream of the shuttle and is electrically connected to the processor. The queue includes retractable shafts, sensors and scanners for selectively retaining, detecting and scanning identification data from a specimen carrier on either conveyor upstream of the shuttle, and transmitting the information to the processor.

Specimen carrier transfer apparatus for a conveyor track

A two-axis robot includes a vertical tubular post mounted for rotation about its vertical axis, with a vertically slidable shaft extending through the post. An arm on the upper end of the post projects radially outward and has a gripper assembly thereon with operable jaws for gripping a specimen tube. The robot is positioned between two reference locations, for retrieving a specimen tube from one reference location and transferring it to the other. The reference locations are located along a circle circumscribed by a central vertical axis of the gripper jaws as they swing about the rotational axis of the post.

Two-axis robot for specimen transfer

A container positioning device includes a stop mechanism for stopping a carrier moving along a conveyor, the carrier supporting a container thereon. A pair of arms are pivotally mounted to move between an open position permitting the container to pass along the conveyor track, and a centering position with forward ends in contact with the container and positioning the container in a centering location. A forward end of the downstream arm is operable to move upstream and contact the container to move the container upstream to the centering location, where the second arm will contact the container to retain it in place.

Container positioning device

Growing community of inventors

Omaha, NE, United States of America

Thomas L Bybee